1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filter assembly, and more particularly to a filter assembly for a pneumatic tool and that can be disassembled to replace the filters and/or filtering agents.
2. Description of Related Art
To keep moisture and miscellaneous particles in the air from entering a pneumatic tool and to prevent the pneumatic tool from being oxidized and damaged, a filter assembly is attached to the pneumatic tool to leach moisture and miscellaneous particles out of the pressurized air. Without a filter assembly, for example, the paint will mixed with the moisture to cause spraying paint to lose its original color. With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a conventional filter assembly (40) in accordance with the prior art comprises a body having two ends provided respectively with a threaded hole and an outer thread. The body is connected to a handle of a pneumatic tool (50) with the threaded hole and is connected to a hose that is connected to a pressurized air source with the outer thread. Filters and drying agents are held inside the body to leach miscellaneous particles and moisture out from the pressurized air transmitted from the hose.
The body of the conventional filter assembly (40) substantially comprises a sleeve (42) with an opening and a cover (44) attached to and closing the opening of the sleeve (42). After putting filters and drying agents into the sleeve (42) through the opening, the cover (44) is securely attached to the sleeve (42) with glue or with an ultrasonic process to close the opening. However, because the cover (44) of the conventional filter assembly (40) cannot be disassembled from the sleeve (42), the filters and drying agents inside the sleeve (42) are not replaceable. When the filters or the drying agents achieve a saturation condition and lose leaching effectiveness, a new filter assembly (40) is needed to replace a used one even if the other parts of the filter assembly (40) are still entirely functional. Therefore, the conventional filter assembly (40) is not friendly to the environment.
To overcome these shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a filter assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.